DFMC vs OASC

DFMCAU.S. Micro Cap Portfolio ETF

OASCCOneAscent Enhanced Small and Mid Cap ETF

In short

DFMC Dimensional's micro-cap workhorse: a systematic sweep of the smallest US listed companies, a strategy dating to 1981, now in an ETF wrapper. Not an index tracker, and it charges less than the typical active US equity fund.

OASC Faith-based screen, quant tilt. OASC strips companies that fail OneAscent's values test from the Bloomberg US 2500, then rebuilds roughly 200 small and mid caps ranked on returns on capital and asset growth, targeting 2.5% tracking error.

Stated mandate

DFMC The Portfolio seeks long-term capital appreciation.

OASC The Fund seeks to outperform the Bloomberg US 2500 Total Return Index before expenses. It invests primarily in U.S. small- and mid-cap equities, applying OneAscent’s Values-Based Screening and quantitative Corporate Lifecycle Screen.

Why people hold it

• DFMC Charges 0.43% a year, well under the median for active US equity funds, so the fee takes a smaller bite out of a hard-to-reach corner of the market.
• The strategy dates to 1981 and now runs as a multi-billion-dollar portfolio: an unusually long run for anything pointed at micro caps.
• Systematic rather than index-bound. Dimensional sifts the small end of the US market by its own rules instead of copying a published micro-cap benchmark.dimensional.com
• One of the stronger implementations among the active US equity funds we grade, with risk control and portfolio construction the standout pieces.

• OASC The values screen comes first: companies the adviser judges to consistently harm stakeholders (predatory lending, human rights violations, patterns of severe ethics controversies) are cut from the universe before any stock gets picked.sec.gov
• The "enhanced" part is rules-driven, not a hunch. OneAscent's Corporate Lifecycle Screen scores every surviving company on returns on invested capital and asset growth rates, then weights the portfolio from those ranks.sec.gov
• Not a closet index, not a wild swing: fund documents target roughly 200 holdings and 2.5% tracking error against the Bloomberg US 2500, so the screens tilt weights inside a market-shaped frame.sec.gov

Worth knowing

• DFMC Thinly traded next to the big index names, so the cost of getting in and out can matter as much as the expense ratio, especially for larger orders.
• It costs more than Dimensional's broad-market siblings, DFAU at 0.12% and DFAC at 0.17%, which own far bigger, more liquid companies.
• Micro caps are the choppy end of the US market, and owning them is the entire job here. The mandate is long-term capital appreciation, not income.

• OASC Cost is the trade-off: 0.69% net of a waiver through December 31, 2026, against a 1.38% gross ratio, above the category median. Quant SMID peers run cheaper, like AVMC at 0.18% and JMEE at 0.35%.
• The mandate was reset on November 12, 2025, from a small-cap S&P 600 tracker to this broader small and mid cap approach, so the record under today's rules is short on a fund that launched in 2024.sec.govoneascent.com
• Screening out slices of the index means returns can drift from the benchmark, and the prospectus says they may be lower than if picks were made on investment merits alone. It also trades thinly.sec.gov

Full DFMC profile⁠

Full OASC profile⁠